People
sometimes do this themselves, or may use
prepared egg substitutes such as Egg
Beaters.
The United States egg industry launched its
continuing "Incredible Edible Egg" campaign,
which touts eggs as a healthy part of a
balanced diet. The American Egg Board
publicizes modern research which shows that
dietary cholesterol has less effect on blood
cholesterol than previously thought.
Cooking and
preparation
The primary cooking techniques for eggs
are:
- baking
- boiling
- poaching
- frying
Some
common egg dishes are
- boiled
eggs
- eggs
benedict
- fried
eggs
- omelet
- poached
eggs
-
scrambled eggs
- soufflé
- quiche
- egg
salad
- century
egg
Eggs,
particularly their yolks, are important as
binding agents in many preparations in
European cooking due to the emulsifying
action of lecithin. This property is crucial
for sauces such as mayonnaise and
Hollandaise; custards such as crème
anglaise, crème brûlée, flan, and lemon
custard; and meat dishes such as sausages
and pâté.
Eggs may also be pickled; hard-boiled and
refrigerated; or eaten raw, though the
latter is not recommended for people who may
be susceptible to salmonella, such as the
old, the infirm, or pregnant women.
If an egg is overcooked, a greenish ring
sometimes appears around egg yolk. This is a
manifestation of the iron and sulfur
compounds in the egg. It can also occur when
there is much iron in the cooking water. The
green ring does not affect the egg's taste;
overcooking, however, harms the quality of
the egg's protein.
When eggs become rotten, the yolk will turn
green, and the egg will emit a pungent
sulfurous odor when broken. Although deemed
offensive by most Western palates, fermented
eggs are considered a delicacy by some in
China when prepared using a special method
which includes letting them sit for three
months to age (or rot, depending on one's
interpretation).
Egg substitutes for baking
For those who choose not to or are unable to
consume eggs, alternatives used in baking
include other rising agents, such as Ener-G
egg replacer; or binding materials, such as
ground flax seeds. Tofu can also act as a
partial binding agent, since it is high in
lecithin due to its soy content. Extracted
soybean lecithin, in turn, is often used in
packaged foods as a cheap substitute for
egg-derived lecithin.
Egg characteristics
The shape of an egg is approximately an
oblate ellipsoid, but, while keeping
cylindrical symmetry, there is typically not
quite symmetry in a plane perpendicular to
the long axis. See also oval (geometry).
Shell color
Different breeds of chicken can lay eggs
with Egg shells varying from whites through
to brown and rarer colors such as speckled
green. Although there are absolutely no
nutritional differences, there is often a
cultural preference for one color over
another. For example, in most regions of the
United States, eggs are generally white;
while in the northeast of that country and
in the United Kingdom, eggs are generally
light-brown. These habits may be associated
with perceptions of greater purity in
white-shelled eggs or greater wholesomeness
in brown-shelled eggs.
Yolk color
Yolk color depends on the diet of the hen;
if the diet contains yellow/orange plant
pigments known as xanthophylls, then they
are deposited in the yolk, coloring it. A
colorless diet can produce an almost
colorless yolk. Farmers may add natural
pigments to enhance yolk color with
artificial colors, but in most locations,
this activity is forbidden. |
